A plant belonging to the genus Moringa (also simply referred to herein to as “moringa”) is a plant which is widely familiar as a medicinal plant in India, Southeast Asia and the like, and has been found to have various useful physiological functions such as anti-oxidation effects and anti-inflammatory effects. Moringa richly contains minerals, amino acids, benzyl glucosinolates (BGLs) and the like as active ingredients for these effects. Recently, a dry pulverized product of leaves or roots of moringa, an extract powder which is extracted with hot water, a water-containing alcohol or the like from the pulverized product as a raw material, and the like have been sold as a raw material of a functional food, and are remarked (see, Patent Publications 1 and 2, and Non-Patent Publication 1).
With the improvement in the dietary habits and the development in medicine, global life expectancy is increased. However, patients suffering from lifestyle diseases have been dramatically increased due to insufficiency of exercises or the changes in lifestyles such as changes of eating habits. From such social backgrounds, preventive effects for lifestyle diseases of a food functional component contained in a food which is daily taken are remarked, and in recent years, the institution of Foods with Function Claims has been executed even in Japan. It is important for improving the quality of life by positively ingesting such a food functional component to make an effort in maintaining and promoting health.
Some food functional components are thought to act with a target protein to exhibit their effects in the same manner as a pharmaceutical agent. One of the proteins which are remarked as one of the component is a ligand-dependent transcriptional factor, PPAR (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor) belonging to an intranuclear receptor superfamily. This PPAR has three subtypes α, β/δ and γ, and the subtypes are involved in lipid metabolism, saccharometabolism and proliferation or differentiation of a cell. It has been reported that the α is mainly expressed in the liver and involved in lipid combustion, that the β/δ is expressed in various tissues mainly including muscles and involved in improvement of physical exercising ability, and that the γ is expressed in a white adipose tissue or a macrophage and involved in inducing differentiation of a fat cell or lipogenesis. Therefore, an activation of PPAR will lead to preventive and ameliorative effects of various diseases such as insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity and hypertension, so that development regarding an activator is expected (Non-Patent Publications 2 and 3).
From the viewpoint mentioned above, a PPAR activator prepared by chemosynthesis of, for example, ibuprofen, leukotrien B4, indomethacin, a fibrate-based compound or the like has been developed as a substance activating a PPAR and known. In addition, as a PPAR activator derived from a natural component, a curcumin contained in a turmeric, a monoacylglycerol which is a member of oils, catechins contained in tea or the like, and the like have been reported (see, Patent Publication 3).
In addition, conventionally, health foods have been utilized for the purpose of supplementing nutrient functions. Among them, a concept with higher needs is a fatigue recovery, and an amino acid such as taurine, or an extract of plants such as a ginseng or a maca has been utilized. Recently, an anti-fatigue effect of a benzyl glucosinolate which is contained in a food derived from Brassicacae including maca has been remarked, and its effects have been confirmed also in an animal experiment. A concentrated product of benzyl glucosinolate or the like is effective to fully exhibit the effects, and it is desired that a concentrated product is provided as a plant extract (see, Patent Publications 4 and 5, and Non-Patent Publication 4).